Father, son jailed after Stanwood shootout over suspected stolen chainsaws

STANWOOD — An Arlington father and son are being held on $50,000 bail in connection with a shooting Sunday at a park-and-ride in Stanwood.

Everett District Court Judge Anthony Howard found probable cause Monday to hold the duo for investigation of second-degree assault.

Another man was shot four times during a confrontation over some suspected stolen chainsaws. An update on his condition was not available Monday.

A deputy arrived Sunday evening as shots were being fired at the park-and-ride off I-5 near 300th Street NW, a Snohomish County sheriff’s detective wrote in court papers. Kevin and Chad Barber were arrested immediately.

Chad Barber, 27, said the incident started after multiple chainsaws were stolen from him last week. He told police he thought he located the stolen tools online so he set up a meeting with the seller.

He enlisted his father’s help to the confront the seller, according to court documents. On their way to the meeting, they flagged down a passing Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy, who agreed to help the men later when they met up with the seller.

Chad Barber also enlisted the help of two friends.

The Barbers drove to a nearby gas station and noticed the seller’s vehicle already at the park-and-ride. Their friends made the first contact, talking to the seller. His father was seated in the pickup truck.

Witnesses said the Barbers approached the pickup with their guns drawn and leveled at the seller, who also happened to be armed.

“It appears that their provocation caused (the victim) to remove his pistol and fire at Chad Barber in self-defense,” Snohomish County sheriff’s detective Tedd Betts wrote.

The Barbers allegedly returned fire, hitting the victim, the chainsaw seller.

A deputy arrived to see Chad Barber with his pistol in ready position. The deputy couldn’t tell if he was firing. He saw the victim retreating to the back of his pickup, away from Kevin Barber, according to court papers.

It’s unclear if the chainsaws belong to Chad Barber, Betts wrote. The shooting victim’s father told police he had owned one of the chain saws for more than 30 years. He was able to describe identifying marks on the tool. He said his son owned the other saw for about five years, court papers said.

Chad Barber told detectives he didn’t know the serial numbers on his stolen saws. He also told detectives that he only identified them by the online pictures and from what he could see some 60 feet away.

The Barbers allegedly told detectives that they waited for deputies for about five minutes but decided to confront the seller on their own.

“In their statement, both Barbers said they should have waited for deputies,” Betts wrote.

Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463; hefley@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @dianahefley.

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